What I’m Reading

While taking the little one to the library this past week, I decided to pick up some goodies for myself. I absolutely LOVE the book One-Yard Wonders by Rebecca Yaker and Patricia Hoskins. There are so many great projects that use only one yard of fabric. Some of my favorite projects are: organized bed pocket, hanging laundry bag, hanging wall pocket, origami organizer, laptop sleeve, summer nightie, folklore bag, petite diaper tote, and newborn flyaway jacket. What I love is that this book has a little bit of everything. I also want to check out the previous edition, which I’m sure also has a bunch of amazing projects to add to my never ending list of things I’d love to sew if I ever find the time!

The book Me and My Sewing Machine: A Beginner’s Guide is such a great overview of everything you’d ever want to know about sewing from parts of the machine and accessories to seams to buttons and zippers to sewing with different types of fabric. The descriptions are really simple and clear and the pictures are very helpful. I was also excited to see that the sewing machine is actually the one I own or one that is very similar.

I’m loving Baby Knits for Beginners by Debbie Bliss. I taught myself to knit a few years ago. I made like a bazillion scarves and then sort of lost interest. (At the time I was living in Ohio where scarves are a winter essential. Now I live in sunny California and scarves are pretty useless.) This book looks like a great way to get back into knitting…if I can get motivated enough to put in the time to learn new stitches and to figure out the whole yarn weight/needle size/gauge situation. Some of the projects I love are: simple hat, jacket with seed stitch bands, seed stitch shoes, dress with eyelets, and scarf with pocket. So cute!

I’m not sure how useful Adorable Crochet for Babies and Toddlers will be for me. I’ve tried crotchet a few times but I just can’t get the hang of it. To be completely honest, I’m pretty much terrible at it! My biggest problem is getting the tension of the yarn right. This book is more of a dream than a reality at this point, but the three projects I would love to make are: small sandals, Richard Rabbit, and Barnaby Bear. If I could, I would make the rabbit for my sweet girl for Easter. Definitely not going to happen this year. Maybe next Easter?